Since the last two years, there have been numerous reports against private unaided educational institutes for fee hiking and accepting donations

The discourse revolving around the student fee hikes by private educational institutions has been gaining momentum in recent past. According to latest government data, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana reported the maximum number of complaints against schools for fee hike and donations followed by Tamil Nadu and Punjab.

The data highlighted that during the previous and current year, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana both reported 17 reports against private unaided schools. There are claims highlighting “profiteering and commercialization of education activities” by large scale private educational institutions.

“The Government and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) do receive sporadic complaints against its affiliated Independent unaided schools with regard to fee hike and donation,” shared Upendra Kushwaha, Minister of State in Ministry of HRD.

S No.

State

No of schools against which complaints received

1.

Orissa

1

2.

Madhya Pradesh

2

3.

Rajasthan

2

4.

Karnataka

3

5.

Tamil Nadu

7

6.

Maharashtra

3

7.

Uttar Pradesh

17

8.

Uttarakhand

2

9.

Haryana

17

10.

Punjab

6

11.

Delhi

2

12.

Jharkhand

1

Source: HRD Ministry; Parliament

Recently, the proposal for taking over 449 private unaided schools by the Delhi government has invited criticism after the schools failed to refund excess fee charged from parents despite government orders. The schools include the top notch schools in Delhi like Modern School, DPS, Springdales and Amity International.

So far, “no school has been de-affiliated so far on this account as the issues of fee hike are resolved mutually by the complainant and the school concerned and the matter is reported to CBSE. Such issues are also resolved at the intervention of the Local Authorities of the concerned Education Department and District Administration,” stated in government reports.